System and method for automating generation of an automated sensor network

• US 7,346,891 B2
• Filed: 07/05/2002
• Issued: 03/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cooper Technologies Company (Eaton Corporation PLC.)
• Original Assignee: EKA Systems Incorporated (Eaton Corporation PLC.)
• Inventors: Anand, Minakshisundaran B., Thakkar, Rajesh, Chakravarthi, Prakash R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen; Wei
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nahar; Qamrun
• Application Number:
  US10/188,861
• Publication Number:
  US 20040006761A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,083 Days
• Field of Search: 717/107, 717/106
• US Class Current: 717/107
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23293 Automated assembly of machine control software, reusable software components
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/00 Arrangements for software engineering testing or debugging G06F11/36; administrative, planning or organisation aspects of software project management G06Q10/06

Abstract

An application software generator automatically generates an application software unit. The application software generator includes an application composer that combines components extracted from a component repository with an application framework to generate the application software unit. Each component in the component repository includes a component shell, a component interface and a component core. The application framework includes configurable parameters that determine how the application software unit is generated and operates. The configurable parameters can be entered by a user using a graphical user interface. The user can be assisted using a wizard format. The application framework also provides connectivity between components so that they can pass messages to one another. The connectivity can be, for example, by a message bus or event registry and event dispatch. Components themselves can be automatically generated using the application software generator. Uses of the application software generator include creation of sensor/actuator networks and test script generation.

Claims

1. A system for automatically generating an application software unit, comprising:

a processor;

a component repository, the component repository including one or more software components associated with functions of the application software unit;

an application framework including a structure definition element and a configurable parameter storage element, the structure definition element communicatively connecting the one or more software components, and the configurable parameter storage element storing configurable parameter information specifying values of attributes for the software components associated with the application software unit; and

an application composer, operating on the processor, that uses the configurable parameter information in the application framework to extract one or more of the software components from the component repository and to configure the one or more extracted software components, the application composer generating the application software unit from the configured software components, wherein the application composer extracts and configures the one or more software components from the component repository automatically, without requiring a user to specify which software components to extract or configure.

2. The system recited in claim 1, further comprising a graphical user interface that allows a user to enter values for attributes of said application software unit.

3. The system recited in claim 1, wherein each component in the component repository comprises:

a shell comprising information regarding the component;

a core providing functionality for the component; and

an interface for allowing the component to interact with other components.

4. The system recited in claim 3, wherein the information in the shell comprises performance metric information related to execution of the component.

5. The system recited in claim 3, wherein the information in the shell comprises descriptive information describing the component.

6. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the structure definition element comprises a message bus to which each component is connected, and which allows each component to pass a message to any other component.

7. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the structure definition element comprises:

an event registry into which each component registers those events that it will generate and those events whose occurrence the component desires notification of; and

an event dispatcher that sends notification of an event to each component that registered in the event registry to be notified of the event.

8. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the application software unit is combined with one or more of a pre-existing operating system, a pre-existing library and a hardware driver to automatically generate a system software unit.

9. The system recited in claim 1, wherein one or more of the components stored in the component repository are generated automatically using a componentizer.

10. The system recited in claim 9, wherein the componentizer comprises:

a graphical user interface that a user uses to input information about a component to be generated;

an interface generator to generate a component interface in conformance with the user-entered information;

a shell generator to generate a component shell in conformance with the user-entered information;

a pre-generated component core; and

a component composer to combine the component core, component interface and component shell into a finished component.

11. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the application software unit generated is a test script.

12. The system recited in claim 1, wherein the application software generated is used in a network of actuators and/or sensors.

13. A method for automatically generating an application software unit, comprising:

receiving values of at least one configurable parameter specifying attributes for one or more software components stored in a component repository, the one or more software components associated with the application software unit;

storing the at least one configurable parameter in a configurable parameter storage element included within an application framework, the application framework further including a structure definition element communicatively connecting the one or more software components;

extracting one or more of the software components from the component repository using information associated with the configurable parameter;

configuring the one or more extracted software components using the information associated with the configurable parameter, wherein the one or more software components are extracted and configured automatically, without reciuiring a user to specify which software components to extract or configure; and

generating the application software unit from the configured software components.

14. The method recited in claim 13, further comprising receiving the values of the at least one configurable parameter from a user using a graphical user interface.

15. The method recited in claim 13, further comprising generating each component stored in the component repository.

16. The method recited in claim 15, further comprising creating at least one component in the component repository using a componentizer.

17. The method recited in claim 16, further comprising:

receiving input information about a component to be generated;

generating a component interface in conformance with the user-entered information;

generating a component shell in conformance with the user-entered information;

combining a pre-generated component core with the component interface and the component shell to create a finished component; and

storing the finished component in the component repository.

18. The method recited in claim 13, further comprising:

removing an integral component shell of the component containing information about the component from each component to form stripped components; and

storing the removed component shell, wherein the step of combining the components combines the stripped components.

19. The method recited in claim 18, further comprising:

retrieving the stored removed component shells; and

extracting the information about the component from the retrieved component shells.

20. The method recited in claim 19, further comprising generating the application software unit in accordance with the extracted information.

21. The method recited in claim 13, further comprising combining the generated application software unit with one or more of a pre-existing operating system, a pre-existing library, or a hardware driver to automatically generate a system software unit.

22. The method recited in claim 13, further comprising connecting each component to a message bus so that each component can pass a message to any other component.

23. The method recited in claim 13, further comprising registering with an event registry those events that each component will generate and those events whose occurrence each component desires notification of.

24. A system for automatically generating an application software unit, comprising:

means for receiving values of at least one configurable parameter specifying attributes for one or more software components stored in a component repository, the one or more software components associated with the application software unit;

means for storing the at least one configurable parameter in a configurable parameter storage element included within an application framework, the application framework further including a structure definition element communicatively connecting the one or more software components;

means for extracting one or more of the software components from the component repository using information associated with the configurable parameter;

means for configuring the one or more extracted software components using the information associated with the configurable parameter, wherein the one or more software components are extracted and configured automatically, without requiring a user to specify which software components to extract or configure; and

means for generating the application software unit from the configured software components.

25. The system recited in claim 24, further comprising means for receiving the values of the one or more configurable parameters from a user using a graphical user interface.

26. The system recited in claim 24, further comprising means for generating each component stored in the component repository.

27. The system recited in claim 26, further comprising means for creating at least one component in the component repository using a componentizer.

28. The system recited in claim 27, further comprising:

means for receiving input information about a component to be generated;

means for generating a component interface in conformance with the user-entered information;

means for generating a component shell in conformance with the user-entered information;

means for combining a pre-generated component core with the component interface and the component shell to create a finished component; and

means for storing the finished component in the component repository.

29. The system recited in claim 24, further comprising:

means for removing a component shell containing information about the component from each component to form stripped components; and

means for storing the removed component shell, wherein the step of combining the components combines the stripped components.

30. The system recited in claim 29, further comprising:

means for retrieving the stored removed component shells; and

means for extracting the information about the component from the retrieved component shells.

31. The system recited in claim 30, further comprising means for generating the application software unit in accordance with the extracted information.

32. The system recited in claim 24, further comprising means for combining the generated application software unit with one or more of a pre-existing operating system, a pre-existing library, or a hardware driver to automatically generate a system software unit.

33. The system recited in claim 24, further comprising means for connecting each component to a message bus so that each component can pass a message to any other component.

34. The system recited in claim 24, further comprising means for registering with an event registry those events that each component will generate and those events whose occurrence each component desires notification of.

35. A system for automatically generating executable application software for a network of sensors or actuators, said executable application software comprising at least one of an executable software unit resident on embedded sensor or actuator nodes, an executable software unit resident on gateways which collect data from or control the operation of a plurality of said sensor nodes, and an executable software unit resident on a server that collects data from or controls the operation of a plurality of said gateways, said system comprising:

a plurality of software components, each of which performs at least one logically related functions, each said software component consisting of a core that performs the function or functions of the component, an interface that allows the component to interact with other components, and a shell that contains descriptive or quantitative information regarding the component;

a component repository that stores said plurality of software components;

an application framework that defines the structure of the application software and which provides an infrastructure for said software components to interact with each other; and

a graphical user interface for inputting parameters specifying attributes of said network of sensors or actuators;

wherein

said system for automatically generating said executable software units chooses and configures one or more components from the component repository automatically and does not require input from a user to specify which components are to be chosen and further comprises;

means for obtaining user input of the parameters specifying attributes of said executable application software for said network of sensors or actuators using said graphical interface;

automatic means for choosing a second plurality of said software components based on the parameters of the application software;

means for retrieving said second plurality of software components from said component repository;

means for removing said shell that contains descriptive or quantitative information regarding the component from each of said second plurality of software components; and

means for combining the second plurality of software components with said application framework to produce one more of said executable software units.

36. The system recited in claim 35, wherein said application framework comprises a message bus and a common message format such that any one of said components can communicate with any other component by exchanging messages on the message bus.

37. The system recited in claim 35, wherein said application framework comprises:

means for allowing any one of said components to send signals of events as sent signals;

means for allowing any one of said components to register to receive one or more of the sent signals; and

means for sending one or more of the sent signals to components that have registered to receive one or more of the sent signals.

38. The system recited in claim 35, further comprising means for quantifying performance metrics for said executable software units, said metrics including but not limited to total memory usage, total code size and total computational power required in million instructions per second, said means requiring neither the combining of said software components nor instantiation of the software components in a software program.

39. The system recited in claim 38, further comprising:

means for calculating performance metrics of said executable software units by extracting metric information for each of said components from said shells that contain descriptive or quantitative information regarding the component; and

means for combining said performance metrics of said executable software units with pre-existing information regarding equivalent metrics for operating system kernels and hardware device driver software units.

40. The system recited in claim 38, further comprising:

means for calculating performance metrics of said executable software units by extracting metric information for each of said components from said shells that contain descriptive or quantitative information regarding the component; and

means for combining said performance metrics of said executable software units with pre-existing information regarding equivalent metrics for operating system kernels and hardware device driver software units.

41. The system recited in claim 35, further comprising means for combining said executable software units with pre-existing operating system kernels and hardware device driver software units to automatically generate complete system software units.

42. The system recited in claim 35, further comprising means for automatically generating test scripts for each of said executable software units through the means for combining said parameters of said network of sensors or actuators input through said graphical user interface with pre-existing test script document templates.